The Stalwart
by GreyLiliy
Summary: G1. Hot Rod makes an impression on his commanding officer Ultra Magnus. Now if only they could figure each other out and this strange bond between them. Eventual Ultra Magnus x Hot Rod
1. Chapter 1

I need to start another fanfic like a hole in the head. But it just wouldn't let me be. *glares at Ultra Magnus and Hot Rod* They're out to get me. I swear it.

In any case. Thank-you for reading & reviewing. Enjoy!

**The Stalwart **

**Chapter 1**

Ultra Magnus was a quiet bot. He valued loyalty and his duty as a soldier above all. The only thing that he could possibly care about further were the mechs and femmes that fell directly under his command. His brother Prime had given him a good team, even if the Wreckers did fall under his forces. They were a good bunch, but rowdy and often undisciplined.

At least today he had a somewhat simple mission for them. He hoped they could handle it without getting into too much trouble.

Ultra Magnus pushed up from his desk, data pad in hand, to report for the briefing. Thankfully he wouldn't be going with them this time. A small blessing considering the mission. It wasn't that he didn't like helping others, but something so, people friendly just didn't seem like something a soldier would be responsible for.

But it was a good mission for the three going out. Springer needed the chance to be more interactive with other people. His gruff attitude made social interaction difficult. Arcee of course, adored hanging out with the humans. And Hot Rod would love the chance to spend the day next to the water. Ultra Magnus smiled at the thought of the red, flame painted mech. He was a good boy and Magnus could see him going far if he put his mind to it. But first he had to give him a mission.

However, when he reached the designated meeting spot, he noticed something was amiss.

"Springer, Arcee."

"Ultra Magnus, sir!" Springer saluted before relaxing. "We're ready for our briefing."

The older bot scanned the area. "Where is Hot Rod?"

"We're not quite sure." Arcee muttered. "We tried comming him but he didn't answer."

Ultra Magnus sighed. Not even an easy mission could go smoothly it seems. "I suppose I should contact Kup to go find him."

* * *

"Really, Grimlock." Hot Rod sighed. "I can walk on my own."

"No. Me Grimlock say him Hot Rod injured. Me Carry." Grimlock huffed and readjusted the tiny 'bot over his shoulder in his potato sack hold. It was odd walking around in his robot mode, but his tiny rex arms didn't allow for a good grip and he didn't think Hot Rod would appreciate being carried by mouth. Though, from the way the other bots scurried out of the way he must be more intimidating in robot mode. Grimlock smirked. "Leg hurt."

Hot Rod chuckled and pat the big guy on the back. "Seriously, buddy. I've gotten worse damage from rough housing with Springer and Arcee. This is nothing." Hot Rod squirmed a bit in Grimlock's hold without budging an inch. This guy was monster strong; even Springer would have trouble going toe to toe. It almost made Hot Rod wonder where it was all coming from. Wheeljack and Ratchet had really outdone themselves. "There's no need to drag me to the med bay."

"No drag. Me Grimlock carry."

Leave it to a Dinobot to argue semantics. Hot Rod sighed and let himself be hauled off to Ratchet's loving care. He watched the hallway passing by him by a bit before thinking a bit. "Hey Grimlock?"

"Yes?" The larger bot grunted.

"Did I say thank-you yet?"

Grimlock snorted and paused at the hallway intersection before looking left and then right. What time of day did Ratchet hang out with Wheeljack again? Best to take Hot Rod straight to Ratchet or else the smaller bot would be stuck with First Aid. First Aid wasn't a bad bot; Grimlock just liked Ratchet more. "For what?"

"Stepping in." Hot Rod winced a little as he remembered almost being trapped under the rubble of the warehouse. Target practice was only good if you check to make sure your target is strong enough to take the hit. Sadly, the entire building toppled over him. Or would have, anyway. Hot Rod was just glad the structure was vacant. "If you hadn't shown up when you did I think I'd have more of a problem than a few broken leg struts."

"Just doing Grimlock's job." The big guy shrugged and settled in turning towards Wheeljack's lab. The halls were empty and the base was quiet which could only mean the med bay was probably empty. A good sign that Ratchet was visiting Wheeljack since he would have free time. "Saw building come down and me Grimlock pull out of way. Not hard. Sorry not pull fast enough."

Hot Rod chuckled. A metal beam had caught his leg when Grimlock pulled him out of the debris' path which resulted in said minor injury. "It's my own fault for shooting at the building. So don't worry about it."

"No. Target practice good." Grimlock nodded to himself. He had been impressed by what he saw from the boy from the clearing. The tiny race car had been shooting a pattern into the wall of the Autobot symbol. Waste of ammo but lots of enthusiasm that reminded him of his own Dinobot group. "Him Hot Rod good shot."

"Thanks." Hot Rod chuckled. "But apparently not good enough." The young bot crossed his arms across Grimlock's back to rest his head in the nook. "Hey, what were you doing out there anyway?"

"Me Grimlock Thinking."

"About what?" Hot Rod asked over his shoulder. It wasn't completely hard to picture the Dinobot thinking, but he just couldn't picture what about. "And all alone?"

"Different things. And me Grimlock's team good." Grimlock paused as he stood outside of Wheeljack's lab. He could hear laughter inside and smiled. He was right; Ratchet was definitely here. "But me like to think alone sometimes."

"Yeah, sometimes it is good to get out by yourself isn't it?" Hot Rod chuckled noticing that Grimlock dodged the question. "Even a big guy like you too, huh?"

"Yes." Grimlock pushed open the lab door and walked in with his burden. Wheeljack and Ratchet were drinking their energon. Grimlock was satisfied that the two weren't busy. "Him Ratchet help him Hot Rod." The dinobot dumped Hot Rod on the table roughly, but still careful of the sparking leg. "Him hurt leg."

"Well how did he do that?" Wheeljack walked over to the table to look at the young bot. Of the shipment of new mechs landing on Earth, Hot Rod and his two buddies tended to cause the most trouble. Unlike the twins it was accidentally, however, but that's what happened when you were young and full of energy. "Looks pretty nasty."

"Really, guys it's nothing." Hot Rod chuckled and poked his leg. "I was going to just have Springer or Arcee look at it. But Grimlock over here thought I should see the medic."

"And he was right." Ratchet scowled as he put down his cube of energon. "Your leg's a mess, kiddo." The doctor looked in closer at the wreckage. Casing was cracked, wires were everywhere, and of course there were dents littering the metal. Leave it to young bots to think they're indestructible. Have his friends look at it indeed. "What'd you do? Drop a building on it?"

Hot Rod couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

"Is it too much to ask to show up on time? I'm tellin' ya Magnus, that boy gets distracted too easily." Kup grumbled as he walked along the corridor. That little punk Hot Rod was supposed to meet Springer and Arcee for a mission aiding some humans with some clean up of a beach or something. Good 'PR' that Prowl guy called it. Bit of wasted time if you asked Kup, but he didn't make the assignments. But he did have to make sure bots showed up to do them. And since Hot Rod was a no-show, they had to send Blurr instead.

Springer was going to kill his best friend.

"I'm sure he had a good reason for being held up." Ultra Magnus interjected as he walked alongside his old friend. "It's not like he was avoiding real work this time. This mission was practically an assignment to go play at the beach with Daniel." Magnus chuckled. Despite Kup's parental ire he couldn't help but be slightly amused at the situation. He'd save the anger for a real mission. "And you know how Hot Rod loves fishing."

"Yeah, I guess so." Kup muttered. He'd known Hot Rod since he was a tiny little bot that barely reached his knees. He really should have figured him out by this point. Not showing up for a 'play-date' made no sense. Work? Sure. He'd skip out on that. "Still don't excuse him from missing his post." A grunt. "And he'll have to apologize to the kid, too."

"Yes, but I'm sure Daniel will have fun with the others regardless so it shouldn't be too bad."

"Whatever you say Magnus, but right now I just want to know where he went." Kup muttered and started to rub the back of his head. "Because he sure isn't answering his Comm." Kup did his best to keep the worry out of his voice. It was too soon to start assuming the worst.

"Perhaps it is broken? For all we know he's in the medbay."

"But then wouldn'a First Aid or Ratchet sent us a message? Surely they've got a copy of everyone's schedule."

"They might have been too busy to check if it was serious enough." Magnus offered. Kup twitched and he grimaced a bit. Probably not best to make the old bot worry. "Or he was unable to tell them he needed to be somewhere at the very least."

"I doubt his voice box was broken, too."

Ultra Magnus huffed as they turned a corner. "He could have just forgotten."

"That's the one I'd put my credits on."

"And probably the best option all things considering."

"Still need to think up a good punishment for him though." Kup grinned. "He's got to know he can skip out on responsibility."

"Very true. I'm sure we'll think of something." Magnus offered. "But first I think we should concentrate on finding him."

"Right." Kup nodded and headed down the next corridor. "Now if only we knew where to look."

Magnus smiled and pat his friend on the shoulder. "Why don't we assume the best of him and check the Med Bay?"

"How would him being hurt be the best?"

"It means that he didn't skip out on his duties by choice or negligence."

"Right." Kup laughed heartily and playfully punched Magnus in the shoulder. "Unless of course negligence is what got him in the Med Bay in the first place."

Magnus frowned slightly as they reached the lair of their resident CMO, Ratchet. He knocked once for posterity and then opened the door. "Excuse us."

"Ultra Magnus, sir!" First Aid chirped, hands still deep inside Trailbreaker's hip joint. The bigger bot waved as well when their commanding officer entered, Kup following. "What can I do for you? Joints acting up again?"

"No," Magnus coughed into his hand. Kup was chuckling off to the side. Like he was one to talk. His joints creaked louder than his did any day! "We were actually looking for Hod Rod. Has he been by here?"

"Not that I've seen." First Aid pulled his hands out of Trailbreaker and closed the panel. "You're good to go."

"Thanks, First Aid." Trailbreaker nodded and headed out. He had some things to deal with and it sounded like a certain young bot was in trouble. "I'll leave you all to it then."

"See-you later." First Aid waved and turned back to Ultra Magnus and Kup. "But no, if Hot Rod was here it was when Ratchet was on shift."

"When was that?"

"Earlier this morning."

"Thank-you, then, First Aid." Magnus nodded and tapped Kup on the shoulder to leave. Hanging around aimlessly in the Medical Bay was usually not a wise decision in case of emergency. "Shall we?"

"Yup. Now we know he ain't hurt." Kup almost grinned. "So, what do you think is a good punishment?"

Ultra Magnus shook his head. "I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Now dont' be like that." The older bot laughed. "He reports directly to you, so the least you can do is dish out his punishment."

"I suppose that's true."

"It is. Now let's go find the little runt!"

* * *

Hot Rod bent his knee back and forth from his seat on the table and then jumped down with a grin. "Good as new. Thanks, Ratchet."

"No problem." Ratchet hummed and started to put Wheeljack's first aid kit back in its proper place. "Next time stay away from shooting things bigger than you."

"Will do." Hot Rod saluted. "Or at the very least I'll stand farther away."

"That, too." Ratchet chuckled. "Now get out of here. I'm sure you're supposed to be on shift somewhere."

"Shift?" Hot Rod paused. When did his next shift start again... "Dannny!"

"Hmm?"

"I was going to the beach today with Danny, Springer and Arcee! We were cleaning up a beach with a human group." Hot Rod groaned. "And they left over an hour ago. I totally missed it! Kup's going to be so mad!"

"I'm surprised they didn't comm you to ask where you were." Wheeljack offered. "Usually when a bot goes awol or doesn't show they at least try and find out where he is."

"Yeah. They comm us dinobots all the time when we decide not to go to assignments." Grimlock added from his spot next to Ratchet.

"The Comm?" Hot Rod stopped. "Yeah, Springer at the very least would have called to yell at me..." Hot Rod trailed off. "I wonder if it's not working."

Ratchet snorted and opened up a comm line. _Can ya' here this kid?_ When Hot Rod gave no response to even hearing a 'ping' letting him know there was a message he nodded. _Guess not._ "Your comm's definitely not receiving. Try to send a message and see if you get an answer."

"Okay. I might as well call Ultra Magnus since he arranged the trip with Prowl. If anyone was looking for me it'd be him." Hot Rod neglected to mention he had no desire to speak to Kup right now. Who was also probably looking for him. Kup would be more likely to yell. _Ultra Magnus?_

_Hot Rod?_ Ultra Magnus stopped in the middle of the hallway and caused Kup to run into him. _Where are you? You missed your mission brief. We had to send Blurr in your place._

Hot Rod had the decency to wince. He liked Bluur; he was a fun bot when he wasn't complaining. But Springer had no patience for the guy. _I'm in Wheeljack's lab with Ratchet and Grimlock._

_Why are you there?_

_I uh, broke my leg during target practice?_

_Stay where you are. I'll be right there._

_Yes, sir._ Hot Rod turned off his comm with a sigh. "Well, I got a message out. Ultra Magnus doesn't sound too happy. He's on his way here now."

"Well, you can tell him your comm isn't receiving. Let's get you down to the med bay and take a look. I'd rather not crack your head open in the lab." Ratchet muttered and started to push the boy out.

"But Ultra Magnus is coming here to pick me up." His protest went unheeded as he was shoved out of the room.

Ratchet smirked. "I'm sure we'll see him in the hallway on his way here. This boat isn't that big. Grimlock, you stay here with Wheeljack. You're too big to go crashing about in the med bay."

"Okay Ratchet. Me Grimlock stay here. See you later you Hot Rod!" Grimlock waved a bit before turning to Wheeljack who had somehow gotten a hold of some energon goodies.

Hot Rod waved as they were pushed out into the hall. Sure enough, they did run into Ultra Magnus and Kup heading towards the lab. "Hi Ultra Magnus!"

"Hello, Hot Rod." Ultra Magnus put his hands behind his back as he greeted the youngster. He smiled a little bit seeing that confident face. "What's this about a broken leg?"

"Yeah, what the heck you do to yourself this time?" Kup huffed. "I swear you can't go a full day without breaking yourself somehow."

"That's not true. I once went a whole week without any accidents."

"Yeah, because you were offline, ya' punk."

"Love you too, Kup."

Ultra Magnus turned to Ratchet who had started to keep pushing them down the hallway. "A broken leg?" He inquired.

"Building fell on him. It apparently screwed up his comm system as well. He can call out but not answer in."

"I see. Well that explains quite a bit. But," Magnus paused. "A building?"

"Yup."

"I see." Magnus watched as Kup began to harass the younger bot. He smiled a bit. Magnus always did have a soft spot for the boy. He was reckless, but well meaning. His enthusiasm and attitude did wonders to lift the mood. He even got the grumpy Springer to lighten up once in a while and take the lad under his blades. "Well, I trust you'll take care of him."

"I always do."

"Hey Magnus!" Hot Rod ducked away from Kup for a minute. "What time are they all getting back from the beach? I want to know when I should hide from Springer."

Magnus chuckled. Yes, he was quite fond of that boy.


	2. Chapter 2

Whoo~ Another chapter. Arcee is proving difficult to write. But no worries, she'll show up at some point…so until then you get Springer. I love the triple-changers of Transformers so much~ Thank-you for reading and reviewing!

**Chapter 2**

As it turned out, Hot Rod's punishment for missing his assignment due to "negligence" (Magnus' words, not his) wasn't all that harsh. He was mostly being punished for going out to a somewhat hazardous target range alone instead of going AWOL for assignment. As such, Hot Rod found himself cleaning the firing range. Kup had mentioned something along the lines of "Maybe if he cleans the thing he'll remember we have one instead of goin' off on his own in the middle of no where."

Hot Rod chuckled as he polished the counters. Considering Kup never used the official firing range himself (if his stories were to be believed), the punishment was rather ironic. In fact, unless you were an officer or Bluestreak, most of the Autobots did their target practice out in the desert or some other area void of life. Granted, most of them also went out in groups or pairs, but that was beside the point. Either way, Hot Rod was getting close to having finished cleaning the entire area and then he was off to the wash racks for a long soak.

"Having fun, there Roddy?" A hearty voice chuckled, laced with just the slightest bit of amusement from the suffering of a fellow.

"Hi Springo." Hot Rod threw a rag at his taller friend. The triple-changer caught it, of course. Springer had that twitch in his optic that said he had spent maybe just a bit too much time with Blurr earlier in the day and was looking to take it out on his dear, dear best friend. "How was the beach?"

"Great, if you ignore listening to Blurr complain about everything under the sun for five hours." Springer threw the rag right back at Hot Rod; who did not catch it. He chuckled when it smacked into his spoiler and hung there. "Otherwise, not too bad. Mostly cleaning up stuff humans left lying around and then hanging out. Bit of a pain having to watch where you step with kids running about underfoot."

"Was that it?" Hot Rod chuckled. Springer wasn't very good with kids. He was too serious and too hard-headed to deal with them. It made Hot Rod wonder sometimes how they got to be good friends in the first place. "I'm surprised they weren't asking you for helicopter rides."

"Oh, they asked." Springer groaned and leant on the counter, his buddy was polishing. He smiled smugly. "I just said no."

"Big surprise." Hot Rod snorted with a laugh. "How many cried?"

"None, I'll have you know." Springer smirked. "I came up with something good about safety and not having any proper equipment since my model doesn't really match most earth helicopters. Parents ate it up and agreed with me." Springer brushed his nose, clearly proud of himself. "Arcee gave 'um rides instead."

"Well that's good. Arcee probably loved that." The red 'bot sighed thinking of his two friends playing on the beach with a bunch of kids. Hot Rod loved hauling Danny around when Spike and Carly would let him. It was so damn easy to make those kids happy Hot Rod couldn't help but love it. "Wish I could have been there. I bet the water was gorgeous."

"Yeah well. Believe it or not nobody did any fishing so you didn't miss too much." Springer shrugged, never quite understanding how someone as energetic and jittery as Hot Rod enjoyed fishing. Sitting still was all you did for hours on end! How could he stand it? "Speaking, what's this about dropping a building on yourself?"

"Never try and drawing pictures using laser fire into the side of a condemned building."

"Don't," Springer groaned, "just don't say anymore."

"Will do, good buddy." Hot Rod saluted him. "Not a peep."

"Sometimes I don't know how you don't offline yourself, sometimes."

"Just lucky I guess." Springer continued to give Hot Rod a disbelieving smirk. "What brings you down here? Figured you'd be washing up with Arcee. You guys just got back, right?"

"Wanted to see what kept you. Ultra Magnus filled us in briefly and said you were down here. Arcee went ahead to the racks while I decided to be a good friend and find you." Springer pushed off the counter when Hot Rod started to clean up his things. "Tried comming you to see if you were ready to wash up yet, but you didn't answer. Forced me to come down here and get you myself."

"Oh. Guess Ultra Magnus forgot to tell you." Hot Rod picked up his bucket and threw the last of the cleaning supplies in. "My comm's broken. I can send out but not receive. Well, to start anyway. If I ping you first it'll work okay."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, Ratchet hasn't figured out what's wrong yet. Must have hit my head or something when Grimlock pulled me out of the way. He said it's probably something tiny that'll get worse as it goes on." Hot Rod chuckled. "Ratchet said it'll be easier to find and fix once it gets worse."

"Yeah." Springer nodded. "Gonna' make it a pain to get a hold of you."

"Yeah, until it's fixed I have to report to Magnus or Kup more often to make sure no one's looking for me." Hot Rod started to head out of the range with Springer following in step. "It's not a huge deal. I can still call out if I need to and I'm sure Ratchet'll fix it." Hot Rod threw his arms behind his back, bucket clanging against his spoiler. "But right now a trip to the washracks sounds like a dream."

"Yeah, you're filthy buddy." Springer laughed and slapped Hot Rod on the back."

"Says the guy covered in sand."

"Least I spent the day on the beach." Springer smirked and started off in a jog before transforming quickly into his land mode. "Race you to the racks!"

"You're on!"

* * *

Ultra Magnus was a follower by nature, not a leader. He left such things to his brother, Optimus, happily. At the end of the day, Ultra Magnus was a soldier first and foremost. He served, fought and obeyed orders passed down to him and he enjoyed it. Even if currently there were very few mechs ahead of him in the command chain. He would blame experience alone for his position, but it fell more along the lines of his brother forcing him to accept promotions.

His brother was unreasonable stubborn some days.

At the very least he still was still under the command of someone else be it Optimus or one of the other officers. That was at least a small comfort. Though, leading wasn't all bad, Ultra Magnus could admit. There was something fun about working with younger, less experienced soldiers and helping them fulfill their duties and obligations. Teach them how to obey orders, follow a code of conduct that all others could live up to and above all protect what is precious.

Sadly, today he was left dealing with the miscreants.

"Can you tell me, Cliffjumper, why you thought it was a good idea to go head first into a small troop of Decepticons?" Ultra Magnus continued before the minibot before him could open his mouth. "I fully understand that you probably could have handled three or four yourself with your experience, but there were seven. Well over any comfortable range to be handling a problem by yourself especially if back-up was near and you could have afforded to wait."

"Back-up wasn't near and I couldn't afford to wait." Cliffjumper scowled. Those 'cons were up to no good and the longer he waited the more energy they had ripped from the power plant. Time was of the essence! What was so hard to understand about that? "The situation needed handling right then and I took care of it just fine."

"At the expense of two days in the medical bay."

"I beat them all."

"What I am saying, is regardless of your victory, had you back-up you probably would have left the battle unscathed and not only saved us using limited resources for repairs, but also lightened Ratchet and First Aid's work load." Ultra Magnus sat the data pad with the incident on the table. "This isn't about whether or not you can win a fight it's about consideration to your team and your fellow soldiers."

"Look, I've been gettin' this speech longer than even _you_ can probably remember. Just punish me already or let me go." The red bot huffed and crossed his arms.

"Cliffjump-" Magnus was cut off by a loud 'whoop' emanating from the hall. Both he and the minibot turned towards the open doorway in time to see Springer rush past at full speed in his car mode. Hot Rod soon sped past after him with a laugh, nothing more than a red and orange blurr. Ultra Magnus sighed and held his face in his hand.

"True examples of consideration and followin' the rules if I ever saw 'um." Cliffjumper chuckled. "Quite a team you've got. Reckless, energetic, and apparently fearless of authority." Cliffjumper paused. "I like 'em."

"You're dismissed, soldier." Ultra Magnus pushed up from his desk. "Do at least attempt to think about what we discussed."

"Of course." Cliffjumper winked. "Just like every other time."

"That's what worries me."

"Have fun chasin' down the kids, sir." Cliffjumper laughed and exited the office. Man he loved having the younger 'bots around the base. This place needed some of that fearless belief of invincibility that seemed to fade away with age.

Ultra Magnus started to put a few of his data pads in a stack in preparation for finding his wayward charges. Maybe he was getting too old for this. Then again, when he was young he didn't go charging around the base at top speeds. Magnus just couldn't understand where they got all that excess energy from. Magnus turned on his comm. As he headed outside into the hallway. _Red Alert?_

_Yes sir, Ultra Magnus. Red Alert reporting._

_I'm sure you have noticed Springer and Hot Rod racing in the hallway. Could you please give me their approximate destination?_ Magnus started walking in the direction they had gone in fairly certain they'd be on that end of the building. _It would be most appreciated._

_Of course, sir. _There was a pause on the line. _Camera's have them heading in the direction of the wash racks _A second pause._. Yes, they've just arrived and transformed. They'll probably be there for a bit._

Magnus almost chuckled. A race to the wash racks sounded familiar. Perhaps it was Kup who was telling a story about it. He always had such interesting stories about Hot Rod when he was a sparkling. _Thank-you, Red Alert. That will be all._

_Of course, sir! _A click signaled the end of the comm.

By the time Ultra Magnus reached the wash, Springer and Hot Rod were down to drying off after a final polish. He wondered how long it would take for them to get gritty again with that matte look and feel. A polished shine never seemed to last for more than a day on this planet (Unless you were Sunstreaker or Tracks, but Ultra Magnus wasn't quite sure yet how they managed it. He was sure it involved more work than proper…). Ultra Magnus put his arms behind his back and stood up a bit straighter. "Have a fun racing through the halls, boys?"

"Ultra Magnus, sir!" Springer started a bit and had the decency to look embarrassed. "Uh, you saw that?"

"You raced right by my office." Ultra Magnus chuckled and relaxed his pose slightly. "It would be difficult to miss, I'd imagine."

"Are we in trouble?" Hot Rod asked rather suddenly. He had already done a punishment detail today already and if he was going to get another he'd rather jump straight to the point. "Because we were watching where we were going and the halls were empty! So I don't see what the problem would be and it's not like there's a rule against it."

"Hot Rod." Springer hissed. Was he _trying _to get them in trouble?

"I think, that perhaps this would do well with a warning." Ultra Magnus chuckled. "I do remember what it's like to be young." Well, not really in this sense, but it was what those two needed to hear. "But next time, no rules against it or not, perhaps you could take your race outside?"

"Yeah, okay." Hot Rod sighed in relief. Ultra Magnus could be pretty cool when he wanted to be. "We'll keep it outside."

"Thank-you." Ultra Magnus paused momentarily and remembered what Hot Rod was supposed to be doing this afternoon. "Is the firing range clean?"

"Yup, finished up and Springer came to get me to clean myself up pretty to match." Hot Rod motioned towards his shiny finish, the varying colors in his paint now much more distinct. The flames painted along his chest were much more obvious when they weren't obscured with dirt and grime. Hot Rod smiled. "And sand of course."

"Ha ha." Springer grumbled. He was never agreeing to one of those 'make the Autobots look friendly' missions again. The triple-changer jerked when his comm. came to life. Instead of a voice, he got a short message from Arcee. "Hey Hot Rod, I'll catch up with you later. It seems Arcee got hijacked by Wheeljack to test something or other."

The red racer chuckled at the thought of Arcee at the mercy of the mad inventor. Maybe the Dinobots were involved, too. "Want some help?"

"Nah, Arcee's embarrassed enough as it is. She'll probably be mad I even told ya' this much." Springer chuckled with a soft smile. He could picture Arcee's angry face now as she smacked him in the shoulder for 'being a jerk.'

"Okay." Hot Rod forced a smile and waved as Springer raced out of the room leaving the young 'bot alone with Ultra Magnus in the now obviously empty wash racks. Springer and Arcee had been getting really close lately and often times, Hot Rod felt like the stereotypical third wheel.

Ultra Magnus knew that look.

It was no secret on base that Hot Rod had developed a small crush on Arcee that had probably been there for years. The lad just, hadn't yet realized what it was that he felt, Ultra Magnus assumed. Or surely he would have acted on it. Hot Rod oozed confidence in himself and didn't seem the type to be shy in relations with others. However, it seemed the pretty pink femme had her eyes set on someone, in a color that didn't quite clash so much. Springer was a lucky 'bot. Ultra Magnus wondered if he noticed what it was doing to his friend. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Huh?" Hot Rod turned to his superior who was looking at him in with a weird expression. Like he was thinking too hard. "Not yet, why?"

"I haven't either and after a rather lengthy disciplinary discussion with Cliffjumper I could really use a cube right now." Ultra Magnus smiled. Hot Rod looked like he could use some company after being left alone. "Care to join me?"

Hot Rod stuttered. Ultra Magnus usually didn't eat with him or the others. In fact, the only one of the older 'bots that usually hung out with them was Kup. And Hot Rod was sure that had to do with being his caretaker and taking joy in embarrassing him with old stories. "Uh, sure."

There was an unsure pause in Hot Rod's voice that made Ultra Magnus hesitate. Perhaps, he had been out of line asking in asking to share his company? There was a rather large age gap between the two of them that could possibly be seen as uncomfortable. "Unless of course you don't want to. You don't have to say 'yes' just because you feel the need to be polite."

"Huh? Oh! That's not it." Hot Rod back tracked quickly. Ultra Magnus almost looked wounded; it wasn't a face Hot Rod liked seeing on the older 'bot. "I don't mind. It's just the first time you've asked and it threw me off a little."

"Is it really?" Ultra Magnus was thrown off himself. Had he really disconnected himself so much it was odd to hang out with his fellows? "Then I think it would be a good time to change that, don't you?"

"Yeah." Hot Rod smiled and started to put away his personal cleaning supplies before trailing behind Magnus towards the mess. The officer smiled at him when he pulled up to walk alongside and Hot Rod found himself forgetting about Springer and Arcee for the moment. Sometimes, change was good.


	3. Chapter 3

Mwa ha ha. And things move forward. Poor Magnus. As I'm sure you've guessed, I'm taking a bit of artistic liberty with their ages. The canon doesn't really give great guidelines for how old everyone is save for the occasional obvious one like Kup. Either way, you get it – Magnus Old, Hot Rod Young.

Onward! (And thank-you for reading and reviewing. Just because I don't reply doesn't mean I don't read and appreciate~)

**Chapter 3**

Eating meals with Hot Rod had slowly begun to weasel its way into Ultra Magnus' routine. It was by no means a daily affair as usually the boy was joined by his friends Springer and Arcee (It was one thing to be around Hot Rod but Ultra Magnus just felt, _old_ around the three of them together…) and the commanding officer suspected he was intruding in their clique. But it _was_ often enough that he saw Hot Rod for a cube of energon at least once a week. It was, rather pleasant, Magnus could admit to himself. At the very least educational.

"You enjoy fishing because you get to, sit still?" Ultra Magnus questioned with hesitance lacing his voice. Hot Rod hated sitting still. For anything. Ultra Magnus wondered if there was ever an attention drill where the boy had managed to not move even a tiny bit. "Forgive me if I'm confused."

"No, no," Hot Rod waved his hand in frustration. "Not 'get to' but '_have_ to' sit still." Hot Rod put extra stress on the word that mattered. "Its' like." He paused trying to think of a way to explain it. "In drills and stuff, what really happens if you move from attention? Aside from getting an instructor to roll his eyes – not much. There's no real consequences at the end of it. Even in the field sitting perfectly still doesn't really matter all that much."

"I beg to differ." Ultra Magnus chuckled and decided to school Hot Rod in the importance of stillness in the field.. "Sometimes it's-"

"Not for me, then." Hot Rod cut Magnus off. "Special Ops and them need to sit still to stay undetected. I'm on the front line. Who cares if I'm sitting still or not?" He chuckled and tapped his own chest over the painted on flames. "I'm bright red and orange, Magnus. I'm not exactly designed for hiding."

Magnus took a breath of air. "Alright you've made somewhat of a point. But what does that have to do with fishing?"

"You really, really have to sit still!" Hot Rod smiled and tried to keep his enthusiasm in check. For someone with energy near literally bursting from his seams, being forced to sit still was a huge challenge and Hot Rod loved nothing if not a challenge. "If you move, the fish get scared. And it's like that for humans! So me moving even the tiniest bit is even worse."

"You move all the time when you're talking with Daniel." Magnus pointed out before sipping his cube. Hot Rod's reasoning was starting to make sense, but not enough to completely clear the confusion. "And you two usually bring home a fish."

"Fish aren't very smart." Hot Rod snickered and started to spin his energon cube in his hand, watching the liquid swish along the sides. "They scare away when you move, but they usually come back when you're still again. It just takes longer. When I'm fishing with Daniel we're not usually pressed for time so it doesn't matter how often we scare them. But when I'm by myself it's frustrating to have to wait." Hot Rod stopped frowned. "Does that make sense?"

"You don't like doing things that don't have reason behind them." Ultra Magnus smiled. "I suppose that yes, it makes sense." Hot Rod grinned triumphantly at him. "Still doesn't excuse your inability to sit still during drills. Just because you don't feel earning a reprimand from a superior officer counts as a 'real consequence' doesn't mean it's still not valid."

"Aw, come on Magnus." His voice practically whined as he leaned over the table. "Drills are so boring! You just repeat stuff over and over and it never has anything to do with actual field work."

"Its about discipline and repetition." Magnus smiled as Hot Rod continued to pout pitifully. "They're good for you."

"You would say that." Hot Rod muttered before drinking his cube. If there was any 'bot on base that was gifted at following orders to the letter, it was Ultra Magnus. Hot Rod sat up straight and suddenly pointed a finger. "But there's no way you can tell me you enjoyed doing drills when you were my age!"

Magnus chuckled before finishing off his energon. "On the contrary, I was top of my class when I was your age. I stayed at perfect attention longer than anyone." Magnus was rather proud of that little accomplishment, actually. The older bot pat the back of Hot Rod's hand in a soothing manner. "Maybe some day you'll manage a third of my record."

"A third?"

"Was that too generous?"

Hot Rod snickered into his hand. Ultra Magnus made a joke; how about that? Combined with the older 'bot's straight face and teasing optics, Hot Rod laughed even harder. "You're not allowed to make jokes, Magnus. I don't think my spark can take it."

"I think I'm allowed one once a quarter." Magnus looked off to the side slightly embarrassed. Hot Rod was still chuckling though, so he supposed it was all right. A 'ping' went off on his comm. and Magnus checked his schedule. Ah yes, he was due somewhere. "I'm afraid our time has been cut short. I have a meeting with Optimus in a bit and I still need to gather my reports."

Hot Rod watched Ultra Magnus stand up and tilted his head back. Sometimes it just wasn't fair how big some of the other 'bots in the base were! At least he was still taller than the minibots. "No problem. I'll see you later."

"Have a good evening." Magnus nodded, mood much better than it had been then earlier in the day. He left Hot Rod to the remainder of his lunch to make a quick trip to his office. Thankfully his meeting with Optimus was to be short and he could go back to work afterwards. There was still so much to do in the day from turning in reports to Prowl and arranging schedules for his teams. The trip to the Prime's office was even faster and Ultra Magnus smiled slightly as he entered.

"You look to be in a good mood." Optimus noted as his usually more serious brother entered the room. Magnus was always so stiff, Optimus wondered if he ever relaxed. If the smile on his face was anything to go by, he must have learned. Optimus wondered who it was that put that tiny grin on his face. "Care to share?"

"Merely coming from a short lunch with good company." Ultra Magnus took his seat in front of Optimus' desk. "It's always amazed me how the energy of the youth can spread."

"That it is, my friend. That it is." Optimus chuckled.

* * *

"We're going where?" Springer crossed his arms in a huff as his commanding officers stared at him. He, Arcee, Hot Rod and a few others had been collected together suddenly to do an off-planet assignment. It was a small team to be lead by Ultra Magnus with Kup in second to apparently search for energon. Springer thought it was a waste of time, but he would also admit having a private moment with Arcee interrupted by Magnus' comm. was part of his frustration. "I've never heard of that planet before."

"It's a recent discovery." Ultra Magnus clarified. "The planet is unnamed and for all intents and purposes appears to be uninhabited by intelligent life, yet is overflowing with untapped resources." Magnus motioned for the team to flip to the next few pages on their datapads showing off the resources in various pictures. "If these are to be believed, we should be able to stop using Earth's resources completely."

"Sounds too good to be true." Hot Rod inserted as he stared at the map on the screen behind Magnus. As great as it would be to be self sufficient again, he knew they'd all be wary to jump on something like this.

Arcee nodded in agreement. "It's all too convenient, Magnus. Why did we never notice this planet before? It sounds like something the Decepticons dished up."

"On that front, we agree." Kup commented. "Perceptor an' Prowl came up with some fancy numbers that equaled out to 95% trap of some sort, and 5% that it's real."

"However, the resources are great enough that it's worth risking for that 5%." Magnus stood straight and spoke with authority. He had a bad feeling about this assignment, but orders were orders. "For that reason we are taking a skeleton crew. Springer , Arcee and Hot Rod will be providing our front line defense. Blurr you will be our acting runner, as per usual. Pipes, you will be playing a dual role of acting medic and data collection. Skylynx has been assigned the role of our ship and main headquarters." Magnus waited for any complaints. "And lastly, Kup and I will be directing the mission. Are there any questions concerning your mission data?"

"If this does turn out to be a trap?" Springer smacked the datapad. It mostly listed what they were going to do when they reached planet. "Then what?"

"We leave." Ultra Magnus spoke with the authority that he so often loathed. "This is a recon assignment. If it looks like there is trouble we will be returning immediately energy or no energy. Optimus was very clear on that front."

"So when are we leaving is it soon because most of us still have things to do, do, do and to pack and messages to finish delivering and things to reschedule and why does this sort of thing always, always come up so suddenly?" Blurr interjected tapping his foot rapidly.

Hot Rod chuckled and slapped Blurr on the back. "I think you of all bots would appreciate how fast this mission was put together considering we just found out about this planet a day or two ago."

Blurr frowned and stomped his foot. "That's not the point!"

"Oh calm down, Blurr." Springer snorted and slumped against a wall, Arcee snickering at them behind her hand. "We'll have time to pack things up, I'm sure. It's not like Skylynx is ready for a round trip right now."

"Are you saying that I'm inadequate in some way, Springer? I the mighty Skylynx!?" The prehistoric spaceship snarled at the little green 'bot. The nerve he had suggesting he was flawed!

"Enough." Ultra Magnus cut in holding a pleading hand in front of Skylynx. He sincerely hoped this was not the start of things to come. "Cease your bickering. We leave tomorrow around noon. You're all dismissed."

The group dispersed mostly save for Hot Rod and his two friends others wandering off to pack or prepare. Hot Rod looked at his datapad one last time before turning to the others. "You think this is a trap?"

"Don't think. Know." Springer muttered. He was all for a good fight, but walking into trouble like this didn't seem right. "There's no way this isn't some sort of set up. It's gotta' be leaked information or something."

"Well at least we'll be prepared for it, right?" Arcee added while patting Springer's arm. He always worried to much. "And we've already got orders to split at the first sign of trouble."

"Which means there's going to be trouble." Springer huffed and threw his arms up. "I'm going to get some recharge."

Hot Rod waved as Springer and Arcee left. Recharge was probably a good idea; they'd all need it tomorrow.

* * *

Ultra Magnus couldn't seem to set his systems to recharge no matter how many times he attempted. Surprisingly enough, it also had very little to do with the mission coming up the next day. That, Magnus had no qualms with. He was working with a familiar team and had permission to leave quickly if necessary. Aside from bickering it was nothing he could not manage nor already expect. It also helped he had Kup to back him up if he needed anything.

It was his brother that had him thinking too hard.

Ultra Magnus put down the datapad he had been trying to force himself to read and stared outside his little window. After retrieving his most recent off planet assignment, Optimus had halted him with a simple question.

"So, may I ask who your 'good company' was before you leave?" Optimus had asked with a chuckle. "I have to admit it's had me curious."

"Hmm?" Ultra Magnus was taken aback by the random question at the end of a mission briefing. Normally Magnus just left when he was finished. Optimus wasn't one for chitchat during work hours. "I was having lunch with Hot Rod."

"Hot Rod?" Optimus paused, thinking for a moment mentally going through Autobots that had been assigned to his brother all those years. A red and yellow flame came to mind and he chuckled. "Ah yes, Kup's little prodigy. Hangs out with the triplechanger Springer and Arcee, correct?"

"Yes," Ultra Magnus nodded slowly. Optimus looked far too amused for his own good. "He's got a few issues with discipline, but he means well."

Optimus chuckled at his brother's confused face. He was definitely thankful at times like this for his own faceplate. "It's good to know you're making friends, even if they are out of your age bracket."

Ultra Magnus frowned at the slight jab. "Was that all you needed, or did you have more teasing to sneak in?"

"That's all, my friend." Optimus shook his head. "I didn't mean to hit a sore spot."

"I'm sure you didn't." Magnus nodded and excused himself quickly.

At the time, the conversation didn't seem all that extraordinary. Optimus was teasing him, as per usual, and Magnus ignored him. It wasn't until he had time alone to remember the conversation and dwell, did he realize how much it bothered him for Optimus to have made the jab about his age. Was he too old to be spending time with Hot Rod, a 'bot less than half his age?

Ultra Magnus certainly didn't feel all that old when he was _alone_ with Hot Rod at any rate. When Springer or Arcee were around and the three of them started to kid and joke, Ultra Magnus could admit to feeling his age. There was so much energy and talk of things he'd long stopped caring about or had no clue to what they were referring that the wall that split the generations was quite apparent. It made him nervous and he usually either excused himself quickly when they arrived or passed by when they were already together in the mess hall.

The freightliner frowned as he tapped a spot on his desk. Magnus felt none of that awkward tension when he was alone with the lad. He'd be his car-carrier trailer that the boy probably didn't even notice the age difference unless he was making some point that involved the 'when you were my age' argument. In fact, usually Hot Rod talked to him like an equal and almost never tacked on the polite 'Sir' to his name. Magnus hadn't lied when he said Hot Rod's energy was contagious to Optimus. Magnus almost smiled to himself.

Being around Hot Rod made him feel young.

Magnus wondered if it really showed so much outwardly that Optimus would notice. It must have been or he wouldn't have said something. But then, Magnus wondered, what did that mean? What made Hot Rod so special that he lifted Magnus' spirit? Was it his enthusiasm or his snarky wit? Maybe it was just the way he carried himself with so much confidence, something Ultra Magnus could admit he was short in at times.

Whatever it was, Magnus took in a deep breath and pushed up from his desk, there wasn't time to dwell on it. If he didn't get any recharge there was no way he'd be able to function tomorrow and he doubted he'd get any sleep on Skylynx. There was bound to be bickering and noise and all else. The older bot strode to his berth and collapsed on it.

At least he'd have good company tomorrow.

Thought in mind, he ran his recharge protocols one last time and they finally began the shut down process.


	4. Chapter 4

Whoo~ you guys get a long one today. And not only that but we start jumping right into the action. Huzzah!

Bit more of IDW influence introduced that will be explored next chapter. Specifically about Hot Rod & his construction. I'll be using some artistic license, naturally, but it's inspired by the comics. In particular Spotlight: Hot Rod and Dinobot Maximum. You can't tell me how Hot Rod broke free from Scorponok's guards in D.M. the first time wasn't awesome. If you don't know what I'm talking about – go grab a copy and read it. I might post a scan if I'm feeling up to it.

Speaking of artistic liberty – the oh so wonderful subject of interfacing arrives in this chapter and let's face it; none of us [the fandom] really agree on anything revolving around that subject ('spikes' 'sparks' and 'wires' oh my!) and the canon isn't much help either so the fanfiction community feeds off each other with ideas of how it works. I like to draw from wire play myself – so that's what you get along with some ideas I picked up from watching/reading canon.

And now the obscenely long author notes are done. Thank-you for reading and reviewing! Love ya! :D

**Chapter 4****  
**

All in all, Magnus would have preferred a sneak attack from the Decepticons to start his day.

Fighting, Ultra Magnus could handle in spades. There was something exhilarating about going fist to fist on the battlefield, metal denting, words of honor and the satisfying crunch of a smashed chest plate beneath one's ped. It wasn't that he particularly enjoyed brutality, exactly, but Ultra Magnus was a soldier. A warrior. He was designed to fight, to brawl and there was really no shame in enjoying your primary function as long as one was humble about it.

Ultra Magnus also considered himself capable of handling emergency situations just as adequately, but there was something distinctly more frustrating at falling to the hands of nature over a fellow Cybertronian. After a few days out on their trip and a mere few hours from reaching their destination, it was obvious as to why no one had been to this damn planet before: An asteroid belt around it that was near impenetrable and radiating an interesting magnetic field that made all of their distancing and positioning software fairly useless. A regular death trap, if you would.

Skylynx was quickly caught up in the gravity of the planet as he approached and was thus bombarded with rocks as he tried to make planet fall. Kup, in the meantime, had declared (quite loudly) he was going to strangle whatever idiot overlooked this particular geological feature of the planet and have them tried for either treason or some other crime punishable by offlining. Magnus was inclined to agree when a particularly nasty hit not only tore straight through Skylynx's side, but also knocked into himself, Hot Rod and Blurr. It had flung them from their ride with no choice left but to free fall through the atmosphere on their own.

Needless to say, planet fall without a casing or an asteroid to hitch a ride on was rather painful upon impact.

Magnus found himself alone when he came online, body scuffed and burnt, but otherwise fine. It was times like this his sturdy build came in handy. Finding his teammates became top priority and Magnus set out into the surrounding area, surprisingly dwarfed by the size of the trees. After a few hours the freightliner had yet to find the energetic Blurr or his bickering team mates. Wandering in the damp jungle like atmosphere did manage to pay off, however, as he spotted an unmoving splash of red in the dull surroundings. Ultra Magnus couldn't remember the last time he had moved that quickly.

"Hot Rod! Answer me now!" Ultra Magnus shook the limp body roughly as they sat in the muck of the surrounding swamp and trees. They were both half sunk into what could only be mud despite the green mossy color. Hot Rod appeared to be undamaged save for a dent or two (oddly not a single scorch mark) thanks to the soft landing in the mud - but had yet to online after the fall. Attempts to bring his optics to online was proving futile so Ultra Magnus swiftly struck the 'bot's cheek to try and rattle something on. "That's an order soldier!"

A wheeze from internals coming to life followed by sparks flickering from Hot Rod's optics gave Ultra Magnus a bit of calm. Seconds later, blue optics onlined (after a few failed attempts) and he could hear a bit of grinding as Hot Rod willed his vocals to work. "Are you alright? Hot Rod?"

Hot Rod tried focusing on the hovering face above him, blue eyes displaying an odd mix of anger and worry. Ultra Magnus then. The young bot tried to answer back but realized quickly that his voice was non-functional. His processor picked up speed when it became apparent he couldn't even turn his head to reply. He tried his vocal functions again but was met with a slight static; his mouth didn't move. Hot Rod realized that over half of his systems had failed to restart from the boot including all of his motor systems.

After a few moments of no response, Ultra Magnus realized something had to be wrong with the boy. There were enough controlled flashes in his optics for Magnus to recognize coherence, but if the limp body was anything to go by, Hot Rod had no control of his body. "Hot Rod, flash your optics twice if you are unable to move."

Hot Rod suddenly felt like a newborn sparkling being so helpless, but he flashed his optics twice regardless. At least it wasn't Kup who had found him or the old 'bot would have yet to stop laughing. Hot Rod wasn't really hurt; he just needed a forced restart from a med pack. It was just embarrassing, that's what it was.

Magnus continued to ask everything from if he felt pain to whether or not he could reboot his systems. Hot Rod flickered his optics accordingly, grateful for ever that movement, and wished he could groan. How could his beloved planet falling betray him like this? Oh yeah, he wasn't prepped. Ultra Magnus looked to be debating something before the larger bot pulled Hot Rod up into a sitting position, and found himself slumped onto Magnus' arm.

"Hot Rod, if you're listening, flicker your optics twice." Magnus waited for the flicker and nodded. He kneeled in the mud for a moment contemplating. Hot Rod was basically dead weight, but it appeared as though his computer was merely having trouble rebooting systems that controlled motor functions.

Magnus was no medic, but he had seen this in the field many times before and knew of a possible solution. It wasn't the most desirable option, but neither was having to carry Hot Rod around should they run into trouble. "I'm going to try and reboot your motor systems using my computer, Hot Rod." Ultra Magnus nearly cursed when he remembered Hot Rod's generation wasn't very familiar with this technique being used for medicinal purposes. "I warn you, its going to feel very invasive, but I am not going to hurt you nor go farther into your computer than necessary. Do you understand?"

Hot Rod stared at Magnus, confused. How was he going to reboot his system? Didn't that require a connection of some sort? He said it would feel invasive but...Hot Rod stilled when Magnus cracked open his chest plate and pulled down a thick wire with a jack on the end.

Ultra Magnus was going to connect the two of them.

* * *

"Would you shut up already!?" Springer snarled at Skylynx as they trenched through the thick foliage. Skylynx had left his shuttle half where they hit dirt, but sadly his bottom half could talk as well. He couldn't have landed next to Arcee or Hot Rod. No, he had to be one of the only two who managed to stay in the damn shuttle. His only consolation was Blurr was watching guard over Skylynx's other half instead of following them around. The mud did not do well for Blurr's traction. "We're looking for our team, not complaining about all the damn mud."

"Easy for you to say! You weigh next to nothing compared to my glorious self." Skylynx muttered. This had to count for his all time worst landing. It was still beyond amazing for anyone else to crash so gracefully, but he still crashed. "You try all this sinking."

"I'm sinking enough as it is." Springer shot back. "So just stop it."

"Aren't you a helicopter?" Skylynx muttered before finding his snarky self yet again. "I fancy an aerial view would be more helpful, hmm?"

"I don't want to risk the energy use." Springer huffed and leapt over a fallen log in his path. Skylynx merely stepped over it, the loser. Springer paused to look for any color in the surrounding area. Still no sign of any of his friends. "Takes too much energy to go for extended periods."

"A likely excuse for an inferior model."

"You." Springer stopped and took a calming moment of air through his vents. He wouldn't find Arcee or Hot Rod any faster if he lost his temper. "Just tell me if you spot anyone from your height advantage."

"Naturally." Skylynx hummed and wondered if anyone else was having better luck wherever they landed.

They weren't.

"I used to be lucky when I was a young 'bot, ya' know?" Kup muttered as he pulled himself out of yet another hidden hole beneath the marshy water. He was really starting to hate water. And Mud. And Man would he like to visit a proper washrack. Kup frowned when he realized he was thinking like Sunstreaker. "Maybe everybody's got a set amount of luck and it runs out by the time ya' get to be my age."

Arcee giggled as the older bot complained. For once, being the smallest bot on the team had paid off. Both Kup and Pipes had been sinking and complaining the entire time they had spent looking for their commander. Thanks to her much lighter weight, Arcee had managed to walk along things floating in the mud from stumps to fallen logs. "Maybe you were just due for a bad spell after all that teasing you do?"

"I don't tease anyone that doesn't have it coming, thank-you." Kup snorted.

"Of course you don't." Pipes added with a grunt and pushed a branch out of his way. "Can we keep moving please?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kup muttered. In truth, he was rather worried. The team was split up on a strange planet that they knew nothing about and he was well, with a team. It's one thing to go solo on a dangerous expedition when the only 'bot you had to look out for was yourself, but now he had others to think about. Kup hoped Hot Rod was doing alright wherever he was. It would be a right shame should anything happen to him.

"Move it old man!"

Kup broke from his worry to snarl at the pink femme. "No! You slow it!"

* * *

Hot Rod's optics flickered violently when Magnus reached over to open the lad's chest to match his own and reveal his own connection ports and wires. Seems the lad picked up rather quickly just what was going to happen. "Try and stay calm, Hot Rod. If I could think of another option I would implement it, but we do not have the proper equipment and no guarantee of running into Pipes. We have very little time I'd imagine and if you can be back on your feet with a manual reboot we'll just have to suffer through it."

Hot Rod was not new to interfacing. Now, he didn't have the longest list to brag about when it came to that sort of thing, but he did fool around with Springer when he was younger (before they had met Arcee). They hadn't told anybody, but Blurr had talked him into something or another a few months ago because they were bored on a mission assignment. Interfacing was an intimate exchange of files and feelings that felt well, there weren't many words to describe it accurately – but it felt _really_ good and wasn't exactly something you did with just anybody and usually someone your own age.

Ultra Magnus was _not_ going to interface with Hot Rod.

"Relax, Hot Rod." Magnus had yet to plug into Hot Rod and for good reason. He would bet his last ration of Energon Hot Rod had never had his main systems invaded by anything other than a brainless, lifeless reset tool from a Medic. The boy needed to be calm; He needed Hot Rod to trust him. "I know that the only time you've heard of someone doing this is forcefully hacking into a processor or memory bank to steal data or to cause pain, but you need to trust me. Back when I was your age this was a standard practice. I know what I'm doing."

Hot Rod was not convinced and he flickered his optics twice. He trusted Ultra Magnus, he did. But there were entire training regiments based around blocking 'bots out when they tried this! Even the 'cons didn't usually like doing this due to its very nature. Hot Rod hadn't heard one instance of where good came from this.

"I'm not going to lie to you though," Magnus continued. "This is not going to feel pleasant. And if you fight me, its' going to hurt." More flickering optics and Magnus sighed. "This should take less than five minutes if you let me in and it'll be done and you can hit me if you want, but this is the only way I know how to fix this. Before it started to be abused this was fairly common, Hot Rod. Even if it _was_ way before your time." Magnus paused for a moment. "If you really do not want me to do this, then I will refrain but unless I find it is a different problem, it should get you back on your feet. Blink twice if you do not want me to do this, and shut your optics off if it's alright."

As scared as Hot Rod was, being able to move again would be rather nice. And it was starting to sink in, even without the mud, that if he didn't let Magnus do this, than his commander would be stuck carrying him around. If they ran into trouble, Hot Rod would be little more than a heavy, useless burden and that was surprisingly more frightening than having his systems ravaged by another 'bot. Hot Rod steeled himself; this was Ultra Magnus. Not some Decepticon raping his hard drive for information. How bad could it really be?

Hot Rod's optics flickered off and Magnus nodded to himself. He'd make this as quick as possible and get out. Even in the old days, as it were, this was highly unpleasant. "I'm going to plug directly into your system now, Hot Rod. I need you to concentrate on not fighting me and this should go quickly." Magnus pat Hot Rod's arm almost affectionately before continuing and was reminded again at their age difference. "I am not going to be able to talk to you while I'm scanning and repairing data, so you need to stay calm during this. Once I've accessed your files, I'm going to run a quick systems scan before fixing any corrupt code from your crash. Hot Rod, please remember this is nothing like a medic's scan and you are not going to like how this feels, but please bear with it."

Hot Rod felt the moment when Magnus' jack plugged into the standard medic port and oh _Primus_ he felt him and there was a chill that shot straight down his spine. Medic scans involved a slight tingle as they worked with data in your drive but this was something else. This was a person; a mind, something sentient that was crawling around his programs like a thousand spiders with purpose and direction. In a Medic scan and repair Hot Rod was still in control but not now. Hot Rod didn't realize it could feel this helpless. It was like he was detached from his body but still able to feel it and it hurt and he wanted Magnus _out_ and out _right now_.

Hot Rod was panicking and for not the first time Magnus cursed Prime's insistence that they not practice hard line connections in training activities warning 'bots how to protect their medic ports. He wanted to tell Hot Rod it was alright and to calm down but too much concentration was to be had scanning his systems and working through the complex data that made up half their being. It was true though, it was frightening how much data and information Magnus could manipulate should he choose. Hot Rod was young, inexperienced and his systems still very pliable.

Magnus could destroy him.

Hot Rod could _feel _it when Magnus stopped scanning and started to repair data. And Magnus' warning proved true. It was painful and things were moving in ways he wasn't used to moving them and processes running that weren't his own and they were foreign and alien and it hurt and Hot Rod felt like screaming. He had to stay calm. Hot Rod needed to stay calm and remember this was Magnus. Magnus was fixing him not breaking him. Fixing. He didn't mean to make it hurt when he found the crashed portion of his firmware and started the reboot and-

Magnus felt all of Hot Rod's systems shut down at once when he found the right switch. It had taken slightly longer than planned as Vector Sigma apparently enjoyed changing code around with newer models of their species. It also did not help Magnus was slightly out of practice. Being around the main units for so long had discouraged him from using this method where it could get back to Optimus. He felt Hot Rod's systems connect to his personal drive for the first boot and counted mentally for when the boy would wake up.

Hot Rod woke up screaming and swinging.

"Hot Rod! Calm down!" Magnus had to physically restrain the boy to remind him where he was. Ironically as they were still connected he could just take control and force him to sit still, but that would be an abuse of trust. It would accomplish nothing but frighten the boy further. "You're alright! Your system reboot worked. Sit still."

Magnus was still inside of him and he wasn't moving but Hot Rod could still feel him and it was worse because now he felt him in _all_ of his systems. Hot Rod's voice was hoarse from all the sparks in his attempts to talk before. "Get out."

"It's alright, Hot Rod." Magnus started the proper disconnecting protocols and slowly pulled his jack from the medic port. "There, all done. Your own systems should be compensating now and running their own scans."

Hot Rod's intakes were shaking as he confirmed what Ultra Magnus had said. "Ye…yeah." His scan reported all systems were green and he finally looked over to Magnus. His eyes looked worse than Kup's that first time Hot Rod did a planet fall without cover. "I'm. I'm okay."

"Are you sure? I am sorry, Hot Rod. I had forgotten how bad the first time could be." Magnus sighed and patted him on the arm.

Hot Rod's joints stiffened slightly before he tried standing up. There was a slight, odd feeling that was lingering on his systems and it made his vents run cool. He looked over at his commander in near disbelief thinking of earlier words while trying to put the disgusting feeling behind him. "You used to do that, like in the field? All the time?"

"Hmm?" Magnus rose to his peds and laughed at Hot Rod's confused look. "No, of course not. That was a technique for emergencies only and you could only do it if you had proper training."

"They have training to learn how to do that?" Hot Rod gaped. "They won't even let us plug into each other at our classes."

"It was another era, Hot Rod." Magnus sighed and started to walk. They had spent far too long in this one position and made themselves vulnerable. Besides, if Hot Rod's screaming hadn't attracted attention from a local of some sort, he didn't know what would. "Shortly before your generation came online, the Decepticons had realized it was a useful method to force information from a captive. In response, Autobots pushed to be allowed to do the same to our own prisoners in retaliation.

"Optimus realized that the more who knew how, the more chances there were for it to be abused behind his back. As such, he banned anyone who wasn't a medic from learning how to hard-line into another's systems be they 'bot or 'con. It was not a decision he made lightly, mind you."

"So that's why we only learn the Decepticons might try it and not how to actually fight it once they're in?" Hot Rod trailed next to Ultra Magnus and crossed his arms. "But that doesn't make any sense. How can we fight them off without practice?"

"You can't practice without someone who knows what they're doing." Magnus sighed. "And to be honest, most of the 'bots on our side who know how are either medics and have no time to train or commanding officers who are equally as busy. Many of the others not in those two groups who knew have already fallen." Magnus looked over at Hot Rod. "And to be blunt, what the Decepticons would do to you is nothing short of torture and many instructors do not have the fuel tank to do that to their students, preparation for the future or not."

"Yeah, they definitely make it out to be something horrible." Hot Rod shivered a bit. "And after that I can see why. That was, awful."

"You do get used to it, though." Magnus chuckled as memories started to flow back. "I can't even count the number of times I'd been jacked into on the field."

"I thought you said it wasn't that common." Hot Rod got his foot stuck in the mud and had to pause to yank it out.

"It wasn't, but my unit was usually off by itself for long periods of time." Magnus chuckled as memories flooded back of battles on the outskirts of Cybertron. "And it didn't help that our medic was killed fairly early. Whenever there was a malfunction or injury the only way to check for hidden damage was by using a port. Eventually they started to teach me how to do it and we all took turns. When we returned to the main base I received formal lessons since I showed a proficiency in the subject."

"Wow." Hot Rod started to look around for any sign of colored metal in the trees absently. Proficiency in a skill that was nine of ten times used as a method of torture. Hot Rod wasn't sure what to think about that. "Sounds rough."

"Not as much as you might think." Magnus was glad. He had been afraid for a moment the boy would be angry with him still over the connection. Thankfully, the questions seemed to be distracting him. "It becomes second nature after a while. As you can see, just now it was the first thing that came to mind."

"Yeah." Hot Rod held up an arm. "Worked great though." Magnus chuckled and Hot Rod looked away, slowing his walk down just a bit so he was no longer side-by-side with Ultra Magnus. "Sorry uh, about freaking out earlier, too. I should have known you weren't going to hurt me."

"That's alright, Hot Rod." Magnus put a hand on his shoulder and leaned down slightly to get a better look into his optics without the boy straining to raise his head. "Not only had you been taught to be scared, but it was your first time having someone in your head. I would have been more surprised if you _hadn't_ freaked out."

"Well, thanks anyway." Hot Rod smacked Ultra Magnus on the arm much like he'd done to Springer more than once. "But uh, don't tell Kup about the systems shut down thing, okay?"

"Why?" Ultra Magnus looked over at his suddenly embarrassed companion.

"Because he's always gone off about how my planet falling hobby was going to be the death of me." Hot Rod chuckled to himself. He'd have to think up an excuse for the couple of dents he had as well. "I'd never live it down if he found out! But speaking of the old guy, we should go find him and the others."

Magnus stared at Hot Rod's back as he started to trudge ahead. _Did he just say hobby?_


End file.
